The Wilderness and Spotsylvania |
The One-eyed Traveler |
Ulysses Grant, the newly installed Commanding General of all the Union Armies, traveled with the Army of the Potomac (still led by George Meade) as the Yankees again took on Robert E. Lee during May of 1864. Grant hoped to get through the thick Wilderness forest (which the Yankees remembered all too well from Chancellorsville) into more open country where his superior numbers and artillery could be used to advantage. Lee moved his forces to meet Grant before this could occur. |
Only two-thirds of his already heavily outnumbered army was on hand, with Longstreet's corps a day's march away. Richard Ewell and A. P. Hill moved toward the enemy, and Ewell came face to face with advance Yankee units at Saunders Field, a large open area straddling the Orange Turnpike. Roads were of particular importance to this battle, and you will find this quite obvious when visiting the modern battlefield. The battle opened when the northern troops advanced across Saunder's Field, led by a New York Zouave unit in its colorful blue and red uniforms. Union troops on the side of the road opposite the visitor shelter overran the Confederate lines but were repulsed. Vicious hand-to-hand combat took place all along the battlelines of Saunders Field, but veterans may have remembered the fires even more. The woods and fields caught fire, consuming many of those too wounded to escape. On Ewells right, A. P. Hill moved up the Orange Plank Road, parallel to the Orange Turnpike, and was met head on near the Brock Road intersection by three blue brigades, soon joined by Winfield Hancock's 2nd corps. Hill's forces were hurt badly in the hard fighting that ensued. On the following day, Grant intended to continue battering Hill's corps while other units moved up through a dangerous gap left between Ewell and Hill. Attacking first thing in the morning, the Yankees were on the verge of breaking Hill's line completely open, when Longstreet's corps began arriving on the field. Lee, greatly excited to find Longstreet's Texans on the scene, moved forward as if to lead them into battle. The Texans insisted that Lee return to the rear out of harm's way and would not advance until a staff member led him back. Longstreet drove the enemy back whence it came. Then the Confederates tried to regain the initiative by attacking the left flank via an unfinished railway cut. During the assault, Longstreet was seriously wounded by his own men. The attack, at first promising success, petered out (some pun intended for those familiar with Longstreet). The Rebels launched a much delayed attack on the opposite flank near the end of the day, but darkness fell before they could make full use of the advantage gained. Grant, who had not wanted to give battle in the Wilderness, decided to move on to Spotsylvania Courthouse in hopes of placing himself between Lee and Richmond, where he could confront the enemy on more favorable ground. The Wilderness battle began a series of brutal confrontations that would lead many in the North to refer to Grant as a butcher, but which would end almost a year later with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. |
The Wilderness - The Battle |
The Wilderness - The Visit |
The first stop is the visitor shelter just down the road and around the corner from the Chancellorsville visitor center. Panels inside the shelter tell the story of the battle. There is not that much to see at The Wilderness battlefield. Saunders Field, the large open area around the shelter was the setting for the battle's opening and some of the bloodiest fighting. Today, there is only a monument on one side of the road and an informational sign on the other to mark it. Near the sign are pretty well-preserved Confederate trenches, which you can cross via a small footbridge. The driving tour took us through a woodland road, past several farms, to an open area at the site of Widow Tapp's farm where Lee watched Longstreet's troops repulse the Yankees. There was a cannon here, and the field held a small monument to the Texas troops that led Longstreet's counterattack. The Brock Road-Plank Road crossroads was a highly important point of contention during the battle. Today, it just looks like any old crossroads, but a few important spots are marked along the way. You have to really use your imagination with the Wilderness battlefield, but I also find the topography of few battlefields easier to understand after seeing the grounds for myself. |
This page was last updated on: April 1, 2005
Text and photos copyright 1984-2002 Dan Woodlief |
Spotsylvania - The Battle |
Part of Lee's forces beat Grant's in the race toward Spotsylvania and established defensive positions around Laurel Hill. After days of fighting, the Union forces could not crack the Rebel left at Laurel Hill. Grant also lost one of his leading generals, when a gray sharpshooter brought down John Sedgwick, commander of the sixth corps. The center of the Confederate line, as it extended, protruded out, earning this section the name of "The Mule Shoe." It was at this salient that the guys in blue made their big breakthrough attempt by rushing a massed formation at the entrenched Confederates. |
Fighting was particularly hot at an the angle formed where the western portion of the salient bent back. This part of the position later received the very apt nickname of the "The Bloody Angle." For hour after hour, into the early morning hours, the two sides engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat, with the two sides firing and stabbing at one another from point blank range. Piles of bodies littered the ground, and the wounded and dead were literally trampled into the wet earth by those around them. The Confederates constructed defenses to the rear and eventually pulled back the center to this new position. No fight of the war was more horrible for those involved than "The Bloody Angle." |
Grant shifted troops to the left, near the town of Spotsylvania Courthouse, but relentless rains made it hard to mount an attack. When Lee shifted to counter his opponent, Grant thought that perhaps the Rebels were once again vulnerable around the former angle and struck again. This time the Confederates were more prepared and repelled the assault with virtually artillery alone. It was time to find a new battlefield, and the Yankees again moved further south toward Richmond. |
Spotsylvania - The Visit |
Spotsylvania is a natural compliment of The Wilderness, since it lies nearby and was the next stage in Grant's route to Appomattox. In fact, our driving tour tape included both. Spotsylvania has a shelter much like the one at The Wilderness. This was a good stop to let Claire run around and to use the restrooms. Near the shelter was a monument to General John Sedgwick, killed by a Rebel sharpshooter, just after he told a ducking soldier "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." The much-loved Sedgwick was the highest-ranking Union soldier killed during the war. Just down the park road a bit is the most famous part of the battlefield, the Bloody Angle. I had picked up an Angle walking tour guide at the shelter, but I wasn't able to complete much of it because of time and Claire's restlessness. She was ready to run and was not about to hold anyone's hand. A large field fronts the angle, and several monuments indicate the carnage meeting the Union troops who assaulted this position. |
One sign behind the Confederate lines marks the spot where a 22-inch oak tree was cut down by the ferocious rifle fire around the Angle (part of the tree is now in the Smithsonian). The trenches at Bloody Angle are a lot smaller now, as are the numerous other trenches around the area. The tour continued around to the East Angle and the scant remains of a house that served as a prominent landmark during the battle. After leaving the battlefield, we took a drive up toward the town of Spotsylvania Courthouse for a brief visit to the Confederate Cemetery, where the soldiers' graves are grouped by states. There was a small state flag before each tombstone. If you go to the Chancellorsville visitor center, make sure to take note of the diorama depicting the fighting at Bloody Angle. |
